Well, that sweet-looking week has gone to Hell.
Freezing rain conditions on the interstate delayed me a couple hours, so within 5 minutes of my informing dispatch of the delay, I was reassigned another load, despite still being able to make it to the shipper on time with 8-2 splits.
I traded a 1300 mile single stop trip for a 800 mile three-stop, three-day trip, with two stops, two hours apart, between Dallas and Fort Worth, in Monday AM rush hour traffic.
Then I get to Lincoln and the trailer license plate that should have been waiting, wasn't. There was no other functional empty reefer on site. With several messages arranging for the license tag in my Qualcomm, I was willing to take it into Lincoln, but those same messages would screw me over if I left with it again and got stopped.
So, I could not make the arrival time for the shipper for the terrible load.
Good, in a frustrating way, right?
Wrong.
Now I get to go into that shipper 6 hours later than I was supposed to arrive, burn 5 hours off my 14, instead of starting with a full clock, and meet the load requirements anyway.
It IS possible. If everything goes perfectly. But the way this week has been going, the chances of that are slim at best.
It's going to be one of those weeks.
My first couple months with Shaffer / Crete
Discussion in 'Refrigerated Trucking Forum' started by Farmerbob1, Jun 25, 2017.
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Hate when the miles slip through your fingers like that. Good luck man.
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For an experienced driver, which division would you guys recommend between dry van and reefer? I like the longer lengths of haul that come with reefer, I like the West Coast, and I live in Florida where dry van freight, unless things have changed in the last decade, tends to be difficult to come by. On the other hand, dry van doesn’t have the headaches that come with reefer, there’s substantially more drop and hook, and the deliveries and pick ups tend to have windows rather than set appts, which I love. I’ve heard much more negativity about the reefer side than the dry side, as well. I’m torn.
Metallica88 Thanks this. -
I couldn’t ever see how reefer was worth the headache, but your situation might make it somewhat. I don’t get to Florida all that often but when I do they always seem to get me back out without sitting. West coast is rare for me but currently heading for Tacoma WA. I really dislike grocery warehouses and the whole lumper thing so there’s less of that but more live loads than I thought.
ilikepizza247 Thanks this. -
You’re not the first one to tell me that the west coast is a rare sight for Crete & Shaffer drivers. I don’t like that at all.
Steel Dragon and The Kraut Thank this. -
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Reefer fuel and washouts are generally not much of a problem if you get used to making sure your reefer is ready for the next load. There are parts of the US where washouts are a pain, but mostly there are washouts around most DCs or major cities.
Pay per mile for reefer is higher.
This is coming from a Shaffer driver that mostly hauls reefer. Only every now and then do I get a dry van load. I don't turn down loads though, unless I cannot meet load requirements. -
This means that the Georgia to Washington state load I am on now was planned by the SE planner, but after I drop, I will be planned by a NW planner. If they send me to Arizona, then I get planned for my next load by the SW planner. Eventually I will find my way back to the SE, at which point I will likely spend a lot of time in the SE, NE, and eastern plains until I am fortunate enough to get a good load again. -
Oh, and a dry van never has to waste time at a truck stop shop because a belt broke, or a carrier dealer because the reefer either died, won’t start, or isn’t staying up to temp.
And to top it all off, it’s a rare occurrence to have to go on a wild goose chase to find an empty dry van.Farmerbob1 Thanks this. -
I’ll tske my 3-4 hours in a grocery warehouse vs 300-500 mile loads loadibg and reloading every day.
Zaros Thanks this.
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